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Company adds new location to portfolio; will feature c-store, truck stop, restaurants and interstate access.

January 16, 2011, 07:00 pm

ELLIS, Kan. -- Local resident Doug Shaw has sold his Ellis Travel Plaza, located just off Interstate 70, to the Love's Travel Stops and Country Stores chain. The transaction becomes official Feb. 9, The Hays Daily News reported.

After operating the business for four years this month, Shaw feels comfortable selling to the travel stop giant. "It's very hard for an independent truck stop to be competitive," Shaw told the news outlet. "I like Love's. ... They're a family-owned business, and I think it will be a really good fit for Ellis. If I didn't, I wouldn't have sold it."

The current business is expected to go through some remodeling, Love's spokeswoman Jenny Love-Meyer told the news outlet, but the site will hold onto the Subway and Dairy Queen already in place. The current facility also houses a large convenience store, truck stop and indoor playground.

Ellis Travel Plaza currently employs 25 full-time and part-time workers, with Shaw telling The Hays Daily News that he hopes that number will increase once the transaction is complete. Love's also plans to promote a general manager for the facility.

Even though current employees might have to go through a re-application process, Shaw told the news outlet: "It's to their advantage to have well-trained people who are already doing the job, to keep them in place.”

According to Love-Meyer, the Ellis Travel Plaza initially caught the attention of the c-store chain because of its location near the interstate. "We have had some interest in that stretch of Interstate 70," Love-Meyer told The Hays Daily News. "We were waiting essentially for the right location, the right opportunity."